My best friend Courtney turned 30 in July. I wanted to make her something since she has admired things I have created. She has loved unicorns ever since she was young. I created this mixed media canvas with tons of bright colors and a beautiful unicorn at the center of it all. The inspiration for this is from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXTgnNXpd6M and her birds of a feather mixed media project.

Step 1: I took a canvas
that was 8 ½” x 11”. I put a coat of
gesso over the canvas and let dry. I
took some cardstock pieces I ripped from the Prima Jodie Lee Fairy Better Collection
Aquarelle cardstock and used mod podge to apply to the canvas. Run your finer over each piece you glued down
to help with air bubbles.

Step 2: Apply a thin
layer of a gesso white wash to blend the pieces into the background. Set with a
heat tool.

Step 3: Take gesso and
go around the edges of the pieces to help with the contrast. Take a baby wipe
and remove gesso that got onto the center of the pieces and reveal the cardstock
pattern.

Step 4: Use whale watch
blue, tiffany blue, frozen jack frost and mix equal parts in a cup. Add in a mini mister. Take cosmopolitian pink
and spray some areas of the canvas and let the excess run down the canvas
vertically. Set with a heat gun. Take wild honeysuckle coral and spray and let
drip down the same way. Set with a heat gun.
Take sea grass green and spray a bit heavier and let drip horizontally
compared to the other colors that dripped vertically. Set with a heat gun.
Spray the mixture of blues and tip vertically quickly for a small drip and set
with a heat gun.

Step 5: Take a crafters
workshop 6x6 mini ledger, chicken wire stencil, and a polka dot stencil and
apply to areas of the canvas using texture paste. Clean the stencil in-between
each use and set each area with a heat gun.

Step 6: Take some Prima
flowers solid flower vine in yellow and cover in gesso, apply a few coats. Spray with frozen jack frost lindy's spray.

Step 7: Take some
chipboard circles and tags and apply gesso around the edges. I used chipboard pieces from Leaky Shed
Studio assorted chipboard tags. Take
some pattern cardstock from Prima Jodie Lee Fairy Better Collection Aquarelle
and apply it to the chipboard pieces with mod podge. Do not put a top layer of mod podge. Fussy
cut them out of the cardstock. Sand the edges.

Step 8: Take some
cardstock from the Recollections Rainbow Pixels cardstock and fussy cut some
honeycombs out. Adhere these to chipboard using mod podge. Do not put a top
layer of mod podge. Fussy cut them from the chipboard. Sand the edges.

Step 9: Cut a clock with
the Tim Holtz weathered clock die cut and cover with a few coats of gesso.

Step 12: Take a Martha
Stewart adhesive die cut large doily and cover with gesso.

Step 13 : Start creating
the canvas and determining the placement. When applying your pieces and to make
them level add pieces of chipboard behind pieces to prop them up. Puddy in the cracks with texture paste. Use a
glue gun, glossy accents and e6000 for gluing your pieces.

Step 14: Once everything
is applied add some texture paste into the cracks and spaces around the
edges. Add a bit to some of the
embellishments.

Step 15: Go over with a
few more layers of gesso to the embellishments.

Step 16: Spray a layer
of cosmopolitan pink. Heat set. Spray with wild honeysuckle coral. Heat set. Spray with sea grass green. Heat
set. Spray with the blue mixture. Spray
with the silver. Spray with luscious
lime. Heat set. Keep applying with the colors from earlier
until you get what you like.

Step 17: Take three
Leaky Shed Studio Chipboard shapes unicorn medium and take some tacky glue and
glue the three pieces together. Once dry
color the unicorn using perfect pearls in blue raspberry, sour apple, pink gumball
and grape fizz. Adhere to the canvas using e6000.

Step 18: Take Unique
Pages chipboard magic word and cover with a few coats of gesso. Once dry apply
wild honeysuckle coral spray, cosmopolitan pink, and silent night silver. Once
dry apply a layer of stormy sky distress ink with a blending tool. Adhere to the canvas using tacky glue.

Step 19: Add some
Finnabair art ingredients glass beads in crystal to the nuts and bolts and the
bottle caps using glossy accents.

Step 20: Once everything
on the canvas is dry, highlight with a couple of coats of gesso. Add a last layer of frozen jack frost. Dry
overnight and highlight one more layer of gesso on all embellishments as the
light is coming from the left.

My best friend Courtney was pregnant with her first child, Grayson. I made this new baby card for her baby shower. It was so much fun. The games were fun and kept everyone entertained and interacting. I loved the backdrop she had for pictures. It was a scene from the Disney movie, Bambi.

The design of the card was inspired by a pin I saw on Pinterest. Pin from Stampin Up, http://lvstmpn.wordpress.com.

·Step 1: Take light gray cardstock
and measure for the size of your card.
This card is 6” x 4 ½”. I cut my
cardstock to 6” x 9” and folded in half and creased.

·Step 2: I took white
cardstock and cut to 5 ¾” x 4 ¼”. I took
a distress marker in pumice stone and created the frame by making dash stitch
marks. I glued the piece to the card using a glue stick.

·Step 3: I took some
yellow pattern cardstock from the Recollections Fashionably Chic paper pack and
cut to 3” x 4 ¼”. I took the Martha
Stewart scallop dot punch and punched the edges. I adhered in the center of the card using a
glue stick.

·Step 4: I took some
green pattern cardstock from the Recollections Fashionably Chic paper pack and
I cut the pattern cardstock to 2” x 4 ¼”.
I took the distress marker in pumice stone and created the dash
stitching marks around the frame of the cardstock. I adhered on top of the
yellow pattern cardstock and centered.

·Step 5: I took some blue
pattern cardstock from the Recollections Fashionably Chic paper pack and cut
two squares using my Cricut machine and the accent essentials cartridge that is
2” on all sides. I cut 2 squares out of white cardstock as well. I glued the
white squares onto the blue squares using a glue stick. I took the pumice stone
distress marker and added dash stitches to the frame of the cardstock pieces.

·Step 6: I created the
lion and the hippo using the Stampology Mindys Zoo 2 stamp set. For the lion the colors inks I used was
Staz-on ink pad in jet black for the outline.
The lion was done in Colorbox ink in sunflower and ochre. The hippo was created using Staz-on ink jet
black for the outline. The hippo is
Staz-on ink in dove gray and distress ink in Spun Sugar. I fussy cut the images
out using my small detail scissors. I
adhered the animals to the squares with dimensional dots.

·Step 7: I stamped the
saying “hello” and “new baby” in Staz-on ink dove gray. The “hello” stamp is from Technique Tuesday
Say It Happy Stamp set and the word “new baby” is from the Lawn Fawn A Birdie
Told Me stamp set.

·Step 8: I added some
rhinestones which are Queen & Co. in baby blue and light green.

·Step 9: For the inside
of the card I cut a rectangle 3” by 2” in the blue pattern cardstock and a
white rectangle in the white cardstock that was 2 ¾” x 2”. I adhered together using a glue stick. I
added the dash stitch frame on the blue cardstock with a distress marker in
pumice stone.

·Step 10: I created the
giraffe using the Stampology Mindys Zoo 2 stamp set and used Staz-on ink in jet
black, Staz-on ink in timber brown and Colorbox ink in canary. I adhered the giraffe using dimensional
dots. I also added some rhinestones.

·Step 11: The white
cardstock was cut to 51/2” x 4 ¼”. I
added the frame using dash stitch marks in distress marker pumice stone and
adhered using a glue stick.

Sunday, June 21, 2015

A friend at work asked me to create something for a friend of his who was going through a difficult time. We worked together and thought of doing an album. We thought of the quotes together. This was my first ever album like this and it came out amazing. I am so proud at what I accomplished in 24 hours. I used the videos below for inspiration.

·Step 2: On the front
cover, wipe down the background with an embossing buddy. Take a dot flourish
stamp and ink up with versamark watermark ink pad and stamp the flourishes all
over the background. Cover the images with metallic embossing powder. Remove the excess powders and set with a heat
tool.

·Step 3: On the back
cover, wipe down the background with an embossing buddy. Take a heart mosaic stencil and apply using a
versamark watermark ink pad. Cover with
clear embossing powder. Remove the
excess powder and set with a heat tool.

·Step 4: On the front
cover, I cut out a banner using chipboard.
I colored the using Queen of Hearts red Lindy’s spray and ponderosa
pines olive Lindy’s spray.. I wrote the word “remember” using a silver sharpie
marker. I applied versamark watermark
ink pad on the edges and covered with metallic embossing powder and set with a
heat tool.

·Step 5: On the front
cover, I added some flowers. I colored
the flowers with queen of hearts red Lindy’s spray, homemade glimmer mists. I colored the leaf with ponderosa pines olive
Lindy’s spray. I applied some platinum
inka-gold with my finger to the edges of the flowers and leaf.

·Step 6: I cut up some
lace trim and colored with ponderosa pines olive Lindy’s spray, burnt umber
Lindy’s spray, Danny Zukio Denim Lindy’s spray and Autumn Crimson red Lindy’s
spray. I added the lace to the top ring
of the album.

Page 1-2 (Everything
happens for a reason, we don’t always know what it is but we know we will get
through it somehow)

·Step 2: Take a honeycomb
background stamp and ink up with distress ink pad walnut stain. Stamp the image all over the chipboard
pages. Take some water in your hand and
add some water splatters over the chipboard pages.

·Step 3: Using my cricut
cartridge accent essentials I cut out a frame and colored it with brushed
corduroy distress crackle paint. I added
to the album page using dimensional dots.
I cut out a rectangle and colored it with crushed olive distress
ink. I stamped the box outline using jet
black staz-on ink. I added some
rhinestones. The saying I printed from
the printer and I colored with brushed corduroy distress ink pad.

·Step 4: I took a burlap
bow and colored with distress peeled paint stain and added some areas with gold
inka-gold. I colored the flowers using
summer lovin yellow Lindy’s spray, wild honey distress stain, and honeycomb and
lettuce alcohol inks. I applied everything
using either tacky glue or quickdry adhesive.

·Step 2: Wipe down the
background with an embossing buddy. Take
a Tim Holtz rays stencil and apply using versamark watermark ink pad. Cover the image with clear embossing
powder. Remove the excess powder and set
with a heat tool.

·Step 3: Take some
texture paste and mix some sterling silver acrylic paint to make a light gray
color. Take a cloud stencil and apply
the stencils using the texture paste and don’t smooth out the paste and leave
the texture so the clouds appear real and fluffy.

·Step 4: I cut out the
floral scroll design using my cricut and the accents essential cartridge. I colored it using summer lovin and kissin
kiniki Lindy’s spray. I cut out the word
banner using my computer and colored it using forever blue perfect pearls.

Page 5-6 (I cant change
the direction of the wind but I can adjust my sails to always reach my
destination)

·Step 2: Wipe down the
chipboard pages with the embossing buddy. Take some versamark watermark ink pad
and the cloud stencil and apply some clouds in some areas. Take the white UTEE powder and cover the
images. Remove the excess powder and set
with a heat tool. Take some white acrylic paint and a cloud stencil and apply
the stencil in some areas of the chipboard pages.

·Step 3: I have a frame
die-cut from a kit and colored it using faded jeans, broken china and tumbled
glass distress ink pad. I added some
pearls and stuck the frame on using dimensional dots so a picture can fit underneath. I printed the word banner and distressed the
edges with faded jeans distress ink pad.
I apply it using tacky glue.

Page 7-8 (friends are
like stars they may be hard to find but they are always there AND you might be
one person to the world but to one person you are the world)

·Step 2: Wipe down the
chipboard pages with the embossing buddy.
Take some versamark watermark ink pad and ink up a stars stamp. Stamp some stars onto the background. Cover with silver embossing powder. Remove excess powder and set with a heat
tool.

·Step 3: I cut out some
accents using my cricut and the accent essentials cartridge. Some of them were colored in dove grey
staz-on ink pad. Others were colored
using platinum ink gold and platinum stickles.
I also colored some with pure silver and silver sterling acrylic
paint. I printed out the word banner
using my computer and colored using forever blue perfect pearls.

Page 9-10 (it is during
our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light)

·Step 1: Take a distress
ink pad (black soot) and blending tool and blend some color onto the chipboard
piece. Take a distress stain (picket
fence) and add some color to the chipboard piece. Take some distress crackle paint (picket fence)
and add some paint to areas of the chipboard piece.

·Step 2: Take some gesso
and apply to the craft mat. Take a
distressed background stamp and ink up with the gesso and apply all over the
background. Let dry. Take some
scintillating silver lindy’s spray and spray all over the background. Let
dry. Take some distress crackle paint in
rock candy and spread all over the background. Let dry.

·Step 3: I took a zig zag
border from a previous kit and colored it using silver sterling acrylic paint
and black distress crackle paint. I
added the word banner that I printed from my computer. I also using e6000 glue and glued the metal
lock and key onto the page. I colored these pieces with slate alcohol ink. I also added a Tim Holtz metal banner accent
with e6000 glue.

·Step 4: I took a piece
of white cardstock and ran through the Cuttlebug using Coolio folder. I took the black soot distress ink pad and
rubbed it over the paper to color the raised image. I also took a metal bottle
cap which I colored in slate alcohol ink and attached on top of the embossed
paper using e6000 glue.

·Step 1: Take a distress
ink pad (black soot) and blend all over the chipboard pages.

·Step 2: Take some
homemade glimmers mists (1, 2, 3, and 6) and spray all over the background.

·Step 3: I cut out some
butterflies using the cricut serenade cartridge in black, bright green, bright
pink, bright blue cardstock. I glued all
the butterflies together only in the body area and bent all the wings forward
to make it look like the butterfly is flying and adhered to the background
using tacky glue. I added some small
pearls to the body. I made a trail of
gemstones for a path of the butterfly flying.
I also using a white gel pen.

·Step 4: I printed the
word banners from the computer and colored using perfect pink, perfect purple,
perfect green and perfect blue perfect pearls and adhered using tacky glue.

·Step 2: On the blue
page, take the squares stencil and double columns stencil and apply using faded
jeans and stormy sky distress ink pads.

·Step 3: On the pink
page, take the flowers and hearts/dots stencil and apply using tattered rose
and Victorian velvet distress ink pads.

·Step 4: I took some
circle die-cuts from a previous kit. The
pink one I colored using pink ladies and frenchs pink Lindy’s spray and the
blue one was colored using Azure Seas asters and Delphinium turquoise blue
Lindy’s spray.

·Step 5: I added some
flowers and a bird sticker to the project.

·Step 6: I cut out the
word banners using my computer. I
colored one with shabby shutters distress ink pad and I colored the other words
using milled lavender distressed ink pad.

Page 15-16 (nothing is
impossible the word itself says im possible AND believe you can and youre
halfway there)

·Step 2: Take the
embossing buddy and wipe over the background.
Take a flourish corner stamp and ink up with versamark watermark ink
pad. Cover with vintage photo embossing
powder. Remove the excess powder and set
with a heat tool.

·Step 3: Take a flourish
dot stamp set and ink up with worn lipstick and stamp. Repeat using ripe persimmon and mowed lawn.

·Step 4: Take some leaves
stamps from the blissful botanicals stamp set and ink up with forest moss
distress ink pad and stamp on the background.

·Step 6: I cut out a frame
from the accent essentials cartridge and found a label die-cut from a previous
kit. I colored one frame using aged
mahogany distress ink pad. I colored a
accent from the accent essentials kit using wild honey. I also colored one of the square backgrounds
using brushed corduroy ink pad and covered with tarnished brass distress
crackle paint. I cut out the scroll design and colored with peeled paint
distress ink and covered with rock candy distress crackle paint.

·Step 7: I took a burlap
bow and colored with champagne gold acrylic paint. I took the word banners and covered with wild
honey stain and brushed corduroy distress ink pad.

Page 17-18 (the measure
of who we are is what we do with what we have)

·Step 2: Wipe the
background with the embossing buddy.
Take the manuscripts stamp and ink up with versamark watermark ink pad
and stamp all over the background. Cover
with copper embossing powder. Remove the
excess powder and set with a heat tool.

·Step 3: I took some
borders from a K&Company border kit and added to the project. I also took a floral vellum die-cut and some
prima flowers and added to the project.

·Step 4: I cut out the
word banner that was printed from my computer and colored it using antique
linen distress ink pad.

·Step 1: Take a white
piece of cardstock and cut to the size of the card. Take a piece of white cardstock and run
through the Cuttlebug using the folder Darice branches w/ leaves.

·Step 2: Cut out some
hearts out of white cardstock using the accent essentials Cricut
cartridge. Color the hearts using ripe
persimmon, broken china and mustard seed distress ink pads. Color the other three hearts using versamark
watermark ink pad and emboss using blue, green tinsel, and red tinsel embossing
powders and set with a heat tool.

·Step 3: Add the flowers
to the trees using foam dimensional’s. Add some platinum stickles to look like
the hearts are hanging from the tree.

·Step 4: Create a banner
by cutting a piece of white cardstock and coloring using distress ink pads barn
door, broken china, peeled paint and mustard seed. Write a saying using a black
pigment pen. Add the banner to the
bottom of the card using foam dimensional’s.

My favorite season is the spring and this year spring started late and it was cold. Many of my flowers in the yard bloomed late. I needed to do an art project to lift my spirits and get me in the spring mood. The inspiration for this canvas was from the video below.

·Step 1: I colored the
background of the canvas and created a sky using blue ocean reef acrylic
paint. I took my clouds stencil and some
texture paste and created the clouds.
Before the paint dried I added some blue glitter.

·Step 2: Cut some green
pattern cardstock and using mod podge apply to the bottom half of the canvas.
Add some areas with green acrylic paint.

·Step 3: Add some twine to the top part of the canvas.

·Step 4: Cut out some
flags using the celebrations cartridge from white cardstock. Color each flag with distress inks (broken
china, mustard seed, worn lipstick, peeled paint, ripe persimmon). Spell out the word spring using the same
colors with distress markers. Add each
flag using a clothespin.

·Step 5: Cut out flowers using the accent essentials
cartridge. Color the flowers with
distress ink pads (broken china, mustard seed, worn lipstick, peeled paint,
ripe persimmon). Add some jewels or
draw a smiley face on the flowers. Cut
out some leaves and color with peeled paint distress ink pad. Take a distress marker and draw on
stems. Apply using tacky glue.

My mother's goddaughter Myshanna and basically my sister has a son Ethan. for his birthday I made him this card. His favorite color is green and he loves art. I decided to use different techniques for his card. The inspiration for this was from this video.

Step 1: Create the tri
folder shutter card, cut a piece of cardstock to 12” x 5 ½”. Step 2: With the 12” side
aligned at the top of the scoreboard, score at 2”, 4”, 8”, and 10”.Step 3: Take a paper trimmer
and align the paper at 1 ½”.Cut
from the 2” score line down to the 10” score line.Step 4:Move the cardstock over to the 4”
mark.Cut from the 2” score line
down to the 10” score line.

Step 5: At the
first score line on the left fold the paper over.At the second score line fold the paper
towards the back.With the third
score line fold the paper towards the left.With the last score line fold it towards
the right.Step 6: When the
card is closed take the middle flap and fold it the opposite way.Step 7: Cut the
panels for the card (2- very end vertical panels)
1-3/4 x 5-1/2, (4 corner squares) 1-3/4 x 1-1/4, (1- center panel) 3-3/4 x
2-1/4, (2 middle panels) 1-3/4 x 2-1/4, (2 center rectangle panels) 3-3/4
x 1-1/4

Step 8: Take the first
end vertical panel and add the rays stencil using texture paste. I colored the texture paste with sour apple
perfect pearls. Take the last end vertical panel and color texture paste with
forever green perfect pearls. Apply the
splatters stencil using the texture paste.

·Step 9: Take the top
left corner square in white cardstock and a honeycomb background stamp. Ink up with versamark watermark ink pad. Cover with clear embossing powder and set
with a heat tool. Add some peeled paint
and crushed olive distress ink pads.

·Step 10: Take the bottom
left corner square in pale green cardstock and crinkle up the paper. Add some peeled paint and crushed olive
distress ink to the paper by using a direct pad contact technique. Spritz the paper with a bit of water from a
mister to get the colors to run.

·Step 11: Take the top
right corner square in white cardstock and color with cracked pistachio and
crushed olive distress ink pads. Outline
the edges with jade Inka-gold.

·Step 12: Take the bottom
right corner square in white cardstock and color with peeled paint and shabby
shutters distress ink pad. Take a double
rectangle background stamp and brushed corduroy crackle paint and apply the
stencil to the background.

·Step 13: Take the two
rectangle center panels in dark green cardstock and run through a Cuttlebug using
a diamond plate Cuttlebug folder. Take some jet black Staz-on ink and rub onto
the cardstock using a direct pad technique.
Spray one piece of cardstock with ponderosa pines olive and the other
with cathedral pines green lindy’s sprays.

·Step 15: Take the middle
outside panels that are cut with glossy cardstock and use the alcohol inks and
create a blended background.

·Step 16: Cut out two
ovals one bigger than the other by a ½”. On the lime green add some dots using
peeled paint distress marker. On the
pale green stamp a word bubble, yay saying, and a birdie from the birdie told
me stamp set in jet black Staz-on ink pad.

·Step 17: Glue all panels
where they belong using tacky glue and apply the ovals using foam
dimensional’s.

About Me

Hey hey!! My name is Julia Murren
and I live with my fiancé in Marlborough Massachusetts. I am 30 years old and we have three cats..Elsa,
Missy and Zeus. I started my crafting
journey because of my love for photography.
Ever since I was younger I loved to smile and have my picture
taken. I took some photography classes
in school and started taking tons of pictures.
I started scrapbooking and my love for crafts went from there. I like to do a bit of everything from mixed
media, cards, home décor to scrapbooking.
Crafting is more than a hobby it’s a bit of therapy. I can spend all day in my art room and not
even stop to eat. Don’t worry I do stop
and eat…sometimes.

I currently work at a
telecommunications company and sit at a desk all day and stare at a computer
screen. I have a Bachelors of Arts in
Psychology and Masters of Business Administration. I wish I did not have to worry about financials
because I could see myself enjoying just working retail at a crafting store or
gardening store, another hobby of mine, and just making few dollars, but
smiling everyday selling stuff I enjoy. Other
than working and crafting, I enjoy spending time with my fiancé and making each
other laugh, spending time outside camping or hiking, and love shopping and
fashion.